orWine Tastings in the Comfort of you own villa or B&B while on holiday in Tuscany or Liguria

To book an informative and fun wine tasting whilst holidaying in Italy or arrange for a wild food walk in your area contact me on tuscanytipple at libero dot it or check out myFacebook page

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Saturday, 20 April 2013

A New Chapter... maybe...

Spring has finally sprung after a long and dreary winter. The oldest resident of our village, a 100 year old lady, says she has never seen such a wet winter in her lifetime! But last weekend the temperatures finally soared and flowers appear everywhere, the bees are buzzing and butterflies flutter by etc.

It's the time for a change for us too. Tomorrow we'll be off onto new shores. After struggling for years with the logistical problem of making the regular 10km journey to our land with virtually no money, battling landslides on our steep territory and earthquakes and various other disasters, we have decided to test the waters somewhere else. A good friend of mine has offered us the use of his land in Bulgaria. So the plan is to spend most of this summer there to design and start to implementing a permaculture design for this plot and at the same time test the country to see if we get on with another language / culture etc. Prices for land are very cheap there and we are thinking that with our 'advanced' years we can make our life easier by having the place where we grow our food on our doorstep. We also have various ideas of how we will try and make a living there, details of which I will reveal as they come.

As some of you may remember I visited Bulgaria last year, so I have already made some contacts, including within the permaculture community there. The soil is incredibly fertile and the nature is amongst the least spoiled in Europe.

"So what is happening to your project in Liguria?" I hear you ask. Well, for the time being we are keeping both our house and land and we have got a couple of guys keen to get their hands dirty looking after the place in the meantime. One of them is no lesser personage then 'Il Presidente' of the Dead Rooster Society The participants of my permaculture design course called themselves the Society of the Dead Roosters for reasons too complicated to explain, and Maiemi was unanimously voted for president. Unfortunately, he is also a little shy, so I haven't got a photo of him just now.

Maiemi will be assisted by another friend of ours Alex, who can be seen here doing his Tarzan impression

They are both keen to continue in the same vein as we have started the project, plus experimenting with their own ideas. Here is a final farewell shot of our land as it looks now

So next time you hear from me should be from Bulgaria, but I will of course keep an eye out for this project too. Now I've got to go and pack, so if you'll excuse me...

Well, my friend, I think that you are making the right decision. As you know, it's all about working with Nature and listening to what she tells you and shows you. She has been telling you something about your land at Liguria. She will be pleased that you heard her and you will be rewarded.

Best of luck to you. I look forward to hearing about your new direction.

GOOD LUCK Heiko! I'm sure you'll use your Permaculture prowess to transform your new plot in Bulgaria. I look forward to hearing how you do as well learning about the new wild plants you'll no doubt encounter. Don't you dare forget to blog :)

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Lightfoot Guide to Foraging - Wild Foods by the Wayside

Click on image for link. Also available on: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lightfoot-Guide-Foraging-Foods-Wayside/dp/2917183233/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346501278&sr=8-1 or http://www.amazon.com/Lightfoot-Guide-Foraging-Foods-Wayside/dp/2917183233/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346501489&sr=8-1&keywords=Heiko+Vermeulen (USA)

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About Me

I am a Dutchman, who was brought up in Germany and has lived in the UK for a long time. I now live in Italy on the border between Liguria and Tuscany. English now is the language I feel most comfortable with, hence this blog is written in this language. Myself and my wife Susan live in a small hillside village above the town of Santo Stefano di Magra in the province of La Spezia. We also own a piece of arable land on the other side of the valley in Arcola, where we produce as much of our own food needs as possible. Our plot is about 2000 square meters and steeply terraced and boasts almost a hundred fruit trees of all manner. For money I run wild food foraging courses, design permaculture gardens, run wine tastings for foreigners, garden, teach English to local kids or anything else that happens to come my way, but bit by bit we are trying to wean ourselves off money altogether... Also check out my other blog on wine: thewineanarchist.blogspot.com